Department of Ecosystem Science and Management

Department of Ecosystem Science and Management

Despite markedly different root morphologies and resulting disparities in nutrient-uptake processes, forest trees of different lineages show comparable efficiency in acquiring soil nutrients, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

With live machinery demonstrations, as many as 85 commercial vendors and numerous business networking opportunities, the 2015 Forest Products Equipment and Technology Exposition promises to provide professionals with a valuable trade show experience. But organizers of the event also have planned activities designed to entertain and educate.

Accounting for wildfire is essential in achieving an accurate and realistic calculation of the carbon payback period associated with converting forest biomass into energy, according to a new study. Researchers said their analysis of carbon-accounting methods is expected to inform the scientific debate about the sustainability of such conversion projects.

Pennsylvania's large forest-products industry will be showcased during the 2015 Forest Products Equipment and Technology Exposition, June 5-6 at Penn State's Ag Progress Days site at Rock Springs. Known as Timber 2015, the biennial trade exposition is hosted by the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences and the Pennsylvania Forest Products Association. Parking and admission are free.

With endocrine-disrupting compounds affecting fish populations in rivers as close as Pennsylvania's Susquehanna and as far away as Israel's Jordan, a new research study shows that soils can filter out and break down at least some of these emerging contaminants. The results suggest that water pollution can be diminished by spraying treated wastewater on land rather than discharging it directly into streams, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

A new model that can accurately identify stream sections that still hold suitable habitat for wild brook trout will help fisheries managers from Maine to Georgia find and protect habitat for this fish, which is an economically, socially and ecologically important species.

Change in disturbance regimes -- rather than a change in climate -- is largely responsible for altering the composition of Eastern forests, according to a researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

Contrary to recent well-publicized research, habitat loss, not insecticide use, continues to be the best explanation for the declines in grassland bird populations in the U.S. since the 1980s, according to a new study by ecologists.

The hardwood forests of the central Appalachians are a bastion of biodiversity, providing protective habitat for some 6,000 species of plants and animals. They support a $5 billion forest products industry in Pennsylvania alone. But these forests face stresses that could change their character substantially over the next hundred years. One of these stresses is climate change. Given current forecasts for rising temperatures and increased precipitation, the suitable habitats for many individual tree species are expected to migrate north. But forest ecologist Margot Kaye says the impact on actual trees is hard to predict.

Coyotes are a major predator of white-tailed deer across the East, especially fawns born each spring, but wildlife managers nonetheless are able to stabilize and even grow deer herds, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.

A Penn State center that helps ensure sound stewardship of privately owned forestland in Pennsylvania will enhance its programming, thanks to a gift from a foundation created by a Penn State alumnus and benefactor. The Hamer Foundation, founded by Donald Hamer, of Bellefonte, has committed $500,000 over five years to support the Center for Private Forests housed in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

Courtney Marie Norjen, a Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences major from Ellicott City, Md., is the recipient of the Outstanding Senior Award from Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. The award, sponsored by the College of Agricultural Sciences Alumni Society and the Coaly Society, honors the senior who best balances outstanding academics, extracurricular activities, work experience and communication skills.

Planting cover crops in rotation between cash crops -- widely agreed to be ecologically beneficial -- is even more valuable than previously thought, according to a team of agronomists, entomologists, agroecologists, horticulturists and biogeochemists from Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.